Southside man sees clearly again

For the past 10 years, Southside resident Matt Spears couldn’t see the expression on his wife’s face as he gave her a gift or told her he loved her. He couldn’t drive at night. He couldn’t even read a newspaper.

Spears’ situation had become so desperate that he considered learning to read Braille. But he has recently gained his sight again, thanks to a non-invasive, painless treatment available right here on the First Coast.

Spears has keratoconus, the most common corneal dystrophy that causes the cornea to form a cone-shape, resulting in extreme blurring of all objects. Scleral lenses are a highly advanced contact lens technology which can help patients with keratoconus as well as other distorted corneal conditions hide the distortion and drastically improve vision.

After he switched to scleral lenses, Spears’ vision went from 20/400 to 20/40. The lenses not only improve vision but are also comfortable to wear unlike other types of contacts used for these corneal conditions.